GM's 100% EV, the Chevy Spark

That really depends on what you mean by "dozens and dozens" and how you define "high mpg car".

 

People figure the high gas prices will only last a few months, then get "cheap" again. Gas is $2 and spikes to $3, then falls to the cheap $2.50. Spikes to $4 then falls to $3.50. Spikes to $5 and falls to cheap $4 gas! It's easy to train the masses to accept the steady increase this way without causing drastic changes to their buying habits.

 

Once again, I'm just totally unimpressed with Government Motors (GM). It looks to me that they're blindly throwing darts at the board to see what sticks (a terrible business plan). They also appear to be playing catch up all the time. It's so disappointing. They always seem one step behind .

 

They are once again the biggest auto maker in the USA, and the world. I thought to be number one in the world has always been every automakers bussiness plan.

 

It only took a devastating earthquake, tsunami, and recession to make that dream reality again for GM... When the dollar goes down, Toyota profit in Yen goes down or MSRP in USD goes up.

 

Yes a huge amount of sales of gm are in china. Who wouldn't want to they will be buying just as many cars as we do. They don't just own a little stake there, they are the biggest non chinese auto maker in china. GM has been invertings tons of money in china for well over a decade. They have to pair with a company in the country. If you can use a "alliance" to count auto sales, GM+ Toyota were the number one auto makers for a decade or two when they worked together.

 

I'm not sure if this has been posted yet but the non-EV version's price was announced recently.
2013 Chevrolet Spark to start at $12,995*

I wonder how much the EV version will be and whether people will want to buy it given that people might say" "Why would you pay _____ (presumably much higher the ICE version) for an electric version of a $13K car?"

 

That's true of any EV version of a traditional car, and why there are the tax credits on the battery. Otherwise plug ins would be selling at even lower numbers.

 

$13k for an a-segment car!? Holy cow! Think of a-segment cars as smaller and much more cheaply made cars than what you normally regard as the cheapest means of transportation (Versa, Spark, Yaris) and this price seems extraordinary.

 

Interesting, any differences between the two other than the battery? Trim, Nav, etc...

 

Throwing darts is an excellent analogy.

My blogs are filled with the ever-changing story from GM. They basically say whatever to draw attention, knowing they can change their minds later without consequence. The business thrives on having a spotlight.

They just keep spending money hoping something finally captures the market, focusing on want rather than need. It's a troubling situation. There's nothing to build upon. The situation is quite a mess.

It makes me wonder how the Spark EV will actually be promoted.
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I think that if you look at what's happened over the past few years GM is definitely not throwing random darts.

GM is behind in most areas on fuel economy and have been working to lower incentives (pick-ups distort incentive levels) but are doing well with the Sonic, Cruze and Equinox. Malibu and Impala have a platform update coming but are still selling OK.

The introduction of the Chevy Spark is an attempt to hit the treble 20 next to the Sonic and Cruze. It's re-entering the cheap car market that manufacturers have left to the Versa as they've improved their B segment amenities to C segment levels and increased prices. In a typical month 10,000 Versas are sold and last month over 15,000 Versas were sold: GM wants a piece of the pie.

GM are more car-focused now than they've been for a long time, sales are solid, they're bringing in customers new to GM, costs are under control, perceived quality is up, they're making a sizable profit and they still have plenty of room to improve on fuel economy and increase sales further in a market that's downsizing.

 

Is that surprise at the price being high or low?

The Smart fortwo starts around the same price as the Spark, and the Scion iQ is $16k. The Versa sedan might actually be lower with a manual and older, less efficient engine. Hyundia/Kia might be within a thousand of that price, but the others' b segments all start around $15k.

 

The Nissan Versa per 2012 Nissan Versa Sedan | Nissan USA starts at $10,990. This latest redesign hasn't gotten good reviews.

The price went up from the previous gen's cheapest model: 2009 Nissan Versa 1.6 Base - Feature - Car and Driver.

 

How much is it when you add ac?

 

On the cheapest '12 Versa (the 1.6S), it's already included.

I guess given the step up in price of the '12 Versa, they added a fair bit of stuff that wasn't included in the cheaper '09 1.6 base, like standard AC, an AM/FM CD stereo w/aux input jack (vs. no stereo) and a clock.

 

Let me put it this way. I could buy nearly 3 Chevrolet Sparks (Daewoo Matiz) for the price of my single Toyota iQ.

Yet, I chose the smaller car.

 

If you power windows and mirrors, remote keyless entry, bluetooth, or a tachometer, you have to upgrade to the SV for another $4000. We really can't compare until we know the details here. The Smart might be had cheaper than the Spark if you didn't want a radio.

Ok, without a clue of common car prices where you are, I couldn't gauge the extraordinary comment.

 

Add the AT (CVT in Nissans), like most buyers and here it jumps to $13,120.